Dr Nerida Wilson

Western Australian Museum scientist Dr Nerida Wilson has been selected to join an international team of 55 researchers from 30 countries to take part in a three-month expedition to circumnavigate the Antarctic, studying climate change and pollution in the Southern Ocean.

The expedition, which will depart in December, is being organised by the newly formed Swiss Polar Institute, established to study the Earth’s poles and the critical impact of change on those extreme environments, to identify the global challenges that lay ahead.

“There will be 22 research projects occurring in tandem, ranging from glaciology to climatology, biology and oceanography,” Dr Wilson said.

“The research project I am leading will test the diversity of marine life on sub-Antarctic islands to better understand how that has evolved. Regular climatic changes over the last 40 million years appear to have wiped out entire colonies of animals, and it is likely that the animals living there today have returned only relatively recently.

“Our research will compare the genetic signatures and biological interactions between species in the sub-Antarctic and from Antarctica to better understand the biological history of the region.”

WA Museum CEO Alec Coles said the multi-disciplinary research project was an extraordinary undertaking and would contribute to gaining a greater understanding of Antarctica’s ecosystems and the impact their changing nature could have on the Earth’s future.

“Many of our Museum scientists are recognised internationally for the importance of their research which contributes not only to important discoveries being made here in Western Australia, but globally as well.  This international work, of course, not only develops the skills, knowledge and reputation of our scientists, but also contributes to our understanding of biological and evolutionary processes in our own backyard,” Mr Coles said.

Dr Wilson was part of the team from the WA Museum and Scripps Institution of Oceanography that recently discovered the Ruby Seadragon off the WA Coast – only the third species of seadragon ever to be described.

The Antarctic marine life diversity project is being led by Dr Wilson, and includes researchers from La Trobe University in Victoria, and from Italy, the United States and Chile. The team also includes several PhD students.

 

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Media contact
Flora Perrella
Media and Publicity Officer
Western Australian Museum
flora.perrella@museum.wa.gov.au